A Guide To The Anime World: Shinsekai Yori

2 - Best among the Best

The word anime — pronounced “ah-knee-may” — is an abbreviation of the word animation. In Japan, the word refers to all animation. However, outside of Japan, it has become the catch-all term for animation from Japan.

Shinsekai Yori (From the New World) was released on September 29, 2012 and aired till March 23, 2013, ending with a total of 25 episodes.

This anime is a compact masterpiece: Perfect length with beautiful design and immense character development. Moreover, it has one of the most intricate and breathtaking story lines.

Background check

Following a sudden outbreak of psychokinesis in 0.1% of the population, a rapid transformation swept the world. The godlike ability to manipulate matter remotely turned many power wielders to violence, inciting a long period of upheaval. After a chaotic era shaped by the rise and fall of regimes, the psychic humans were able to achieve peace; creating a new world bound by complex rules.

What the Story is About

This anime tells the unique coming-of-age story of Saki and her friends as they journey to grow into their roles in the supposed utopia. Accepting these roles, however, might not come easy; when faced with the dark and shocking truths of society, and the impending havoc born from the new world.

Shinsekai Yori impressively manages to depict the oppressive nature in us humans in a completely unique and intriguing way. It is one where the modern society as we know it has not been replaced by a technologically advanced civilization; but rather that of a little beautiful town portrayed by a community whose ways of life have relapsed into that of villagers.

How is it Different

Shinsekai Yori’s universe is constantly developing with fascinating conceptions: for example, the Karma Demons, Cantus and the Queerats (a non-human yet intelligent species); that all bring into question a considerable lot of our mankind’s ethics and convictions. Each concept is thoroughly explored and reinforces each other to create a powerful and fascinating dystopia (whose elements successfully examines and challenges the philosophies we take for granted).

First of all, in spite of its complexity, it doesn’t lethargically “narrate” the philosophies that we question. You won’t sit through monologues of explanations and elaborations. You see society being critiqued through the journey and consequences of the actions of our heroes. Shinsekai Yori completely exploits anime as a medium – an accomplishment that I feel is uncommon in this classification. The characters’ dialogues exist to investigate their brain while it is their activities and communications with this dystopian world that we investigate mankind. Keeping in mind the end goal to genuinely acknowledge Shinsekai Yori, it must be finished as at exactly that point will the experience be complete as the show’s construction of its world is careful to convey certain messages and hidden meanings throughout the show allowing viewers to formulate and reformulate key ideas and questions without ever stooping to overbearing narration.

Characters

The characters in Shinsekai Yori all play vital roles to the development of the story. Similarly, the range of the cast completely catches the endless perspectives that individuals in such a world can hold. These interactions are genuine and there is an excellent balance between dialogue, silence and narration between the characters. In spite of the show’s time span going from our heroes’ childhood to their adulthood, the pacing is perfect, being slow in the start to help us process everything and then becoming faster when we can understand much more coherently what is happening.

Artwork and Sound

For an immense dystopia, it only makes sense for it to be accompanied with diverse artwork. We observe their world through its various settings, shown with their own remarkable colour combinations. This is all contrasted with the use of experimental visuals during the more dream-like and ethereal scenes which contribute to subtly send hints across to the viewer on certain mysteries and foreshadowing certain events. Most note worthy, supplementing the visuals is a soundtrack which epitomizes the substance of the show with each track reinforcing the visuals and upgrading the general involvement. Certainly, the soundtrack exhibits how successfully music can invoke emotions in humans according to the mood and overall, enhance the feeling of the show.

TLDR; Shinsekai Yori is not a regular anime that you can just binge watch. It is a three course meal demands your undivided attention. Totally Recommended!